Will the senseless killings stop in Pula Kasing?
"Nobody in this area would have wanted to hurt toh khru (Muslim religious teacher). I guarantee one million percent that somebody might have seen the perpetrators (who shot dead the toh khru) but none of them would dare to speak out,"
said Abdulrofa Putaen, a former member of Pattani provincial administration organization, in reference to the murder of Isma-ae Pa-omanee, a teacher at Pula Kasing pondok religious school who was gunned down by gunmen on June 25 this year.
Abdulrofa was one of the speakers who took part in a public forum held by people’s network in Ban Pula Kasing, Pattani’s Yarang district on July 7 to commemorate the demise of toh khru Isma-ae. Representatives of the police, military and local administration were also invited to join the forum aimed to extract a guarantee from the state there should be no more killings in Ban Pula Kasing.
Government representatives present at the forum promised that they would do their best to stop the indiscriminate killings which had already claimed 14 lives, including the toh khru who was the latest victim then. Unfortunately though the promise was proven to be hollow. Abdulrofa who attended the forum and talked to Isra News reporters was himself shot dead on August 14 as he was travelling home in a pick-up truck in Ban Pula Kasing.
A former teacher at Thammawitthaya Foundation school in Yala, Abdulrofa left teaching career to pursue a life in politics by first running for a seat at Pattani provincial administration organization representing Yarang district. He won three PAO elections and was once chairman of Pattani PAO.
He returned to teaching career three years ago by opening a religious school for kindergarten and primary education-level students. Nevertheless, he had always subjected to close scrutiny by security authorities who suspected that he might be involved with separatist activism.
A school official told Isra News reporters that Abdulrofa’s two relatives, including toh khru Isma-ae, had been killed before Abdulrofa’s fatal attack.
Recalling the fatal attack, the official said that the assailants, riding in two pick-up trucks, followed the victim from the township and opened fire at him as he was about ten kilometers away from home.
Fifteen people, including the latest victim Abdulrofa, have so far been killed in Tambon Pula Kasing. But not a single case has been resolved by the police.
Colonel Boonsin Padklang, commander of a ranger unit based in Yarang district, suggested that Abdulrofa’s murder might be politically motivated because the victim was about to re-enter local politics. The perpetrators, he said, had wanted to drive a wedge between the local people and the authorities.
As for the investigation into the murder case, the colonel admitted that it was very unfortunate that all the surveillance cameras at and near the scene of the attack has been out of order or torched by suspected militants.
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Caption : Abdulrofa Putaen was shot dead on August 14